Help! Objections to Plans to Renovate. What to do?

cheffy · Aug 28, 2007 8:33 am

Help! This whole renovation thing is so hard when you have never done it before.

Basically we have bought a house within the City of Port Phillip in Melbourne. The home pretty much requires a major renovation and we are planning on adding a first floor to the rear 40% of the property.

As money is an issue for us and we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted we have decided against using an architect and instead have just used a draftsman. He seemed to be pretty good although since having various meetings with the council to discuss our plans it seems he’s good at drawing up things with little concern for what the planning guidelines say.

Anyway we made modifications and eventually got it to a point where the council basically said we could go to advertising. So we did and now we have 2 objections from neighbours. One neighbour is directly next door and another neighbour’s house backs onto the laneway that runs along the side of our house. Both objections are objecting against our plans not meeting the planning guidelines (i.e. Side and Rear 1st floor setbacks, Overall house footprint, character of the area).

At this stage I am stuck with what we should do. I kind of no longer really trust our draftsman to advise us on how to proceed. I am awaiting the council to get back to us with regard to their position on the objections but I assume they are going to support those objections.

I am wondering if we should at this stage employ the services of a town planner to help us negotiate with the neighbours and council and then advise on modifications to our plans. Is this a good idea? I have no idea how much they cost.

I really don’t want to go down the path of VCAT if we can avoid it and I feel totally uneducated about the whole process.

I guess I'm just unsure at this point how to proceed.

ahuang · Aug 28, 2007 12:16 pm

What about take a day off and visit your council to get some advice. Depending on your council, they might have all the rules/regulations on the Internet which you can download and read.

Also, even if you spend the money and get a town planner/architect involved, your neighbour might complaint again. How about bring little gifts and visit the neighbours (those who complained and those who didn't) as well to see if you can get some information, or work out something...

My personal experience is, council are always very helpful. Just pretend to be dumb and don't know much, and they normally will guide you through it. Neighbours can be nightmare... have to be very very careful, they can drive you crazy easily... If you upset them, I bet even if they let your application pass they can still complaint to council on very minor stuffs during the construction process. That could delay your construction process very badly...

D&B · Aug 28, 2007 12:21 pm

ahuang, don't assume that architects are any better at knowing what is acceptable to Council. Get a copy of your Council's Development Control Plan (DCP) and check out the requirements. This should be avaialble from your Council's website.

Also, don't assume the Council will accept the neighbours objections. They will look at what they say and make a fair determination.

Also, cheffy has good advice. Visit your Council and talk to somone at the front desk. I've found them very helpful.

vanderlay · Aug 28, 2007 12:25 pm

I would wait to see the councils response - we were told if objections were recieved and the council feels they have merit, they can even sit everyone down together and try and come up with a compromise/soloution to make everyone happy. So dont stress to much at this stage, wait and see what the next step is.

You can read the complete planning scheme for your council at http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/planningschemes/, this will give you a good idea if the neighbours issues have a strong basis, and may even help you come up with a solution to present.

Good luck!

cheffy · Aug 28, 2007 12:57 pm

See the issue is though that the (as I understand it from the draftsman) is that the policies are not black and white. Some are simply guidelines but not hard and fast rules.

So the objections have been that we are not following the policy but as I understand it neither have loads of other developments in the area.

One of the neighbours is a complete nutter so I don't think there is going to be much negotiating going on that he will listen to. He sees development as evil and feels that the best thing you can do if you move into the area is to 'plant a tree'.

I think I might go down to the council and have a chat with them before we do anything further. If it looks like they are going to support the objections then do people think it would be worth getting a town planner to help us negotiate and get the planning approval?

3timesbuilda · Aug 28, 2007 1:12 pm

Ahhh Council, my favourite. :lol:

Basically most people who object have no idea of planning guidelines so from what you have said, these are professional objectors.

Most people simply say things that are patently untrue or irrelevent.

First thing to consider is to try visiting the neighbours who objected. Don't take gifts as that could be misconstrued. Take hubby/wife and any kids with you and choose a good time when they will be at home and not busy. Be very polite regardless and ask them if you can discuss the matter with them . If they are busy, offer to come back but make sure you fix a date/time.

Explain to them that you want to have good relations with your neighbours and would like to discuss options of how you can alter the design to be more satisfactory to them. Try and find a middle ground. When approached this way, most people tend to feel a bit petty and will be a bit more accomodating. Be willing to make some changes in return for ojection about other parts. Ask them how they would recommend achieving what you need in terms of space etc. Do this nicely and when they are confronted with the problem, they will better see it from your perspective.

If you have no luck withthe objectors, then you need to talk to council and go through similar negotiations.

Our quote for town planning was $5000 and really did not amount to all that much. We got a friend of a friend to do just part of it and it came to around $1000.

Side and Rear 1st floor setbacks - check these, if only slightly off probably won't be a problem. If more than slight, consider if there is a good justification for this.

Overall house footprint - Basically too big, check the guidelines as I doubt that this is an independant requirement but rather an attachment to the last objection.

Character of the area - seldom true, there is nearly always an exception. Drive around the neighbourhood and take photos of houses similar to your proposed design. Again councl needs to justify approving your plans and you need to provide them with the info to do so.

Do a bit of work on the internet and have a look at other peoples permit applications. This will give you an idea of the sort of presentation they are looking for.

Good Luck!

mudtrilogy · Aug 28, 2007 3:23 pm

There is a guy who does a weekly segment on 3aw on SAt mornings who is an expert in this area - maybe ring for some advice

matt walker · Aug 28, 2007 4:00 pm

mudtrilogy

There is a guy who does a weekly segment on 3aw on SAt mornings who is an expert in this area - maybe ring for some advice

There is.

This is Bill's page.

http://www.mytalk.com.au/Stations/Talk/3AW/Pages/ProfileBillKusznirczuk.aspx

Send him an email and you might get lucky!

Matt